Deaths In The Night
by haveyouseenmyhaggis
Summary: Ianto finds the body of his father in the street and his world starts to fall apart. The team try desperatly to figure out what's going on while Ianto slowly loses everything he ever worked for. Can Jack be there for him in the darkest times?
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Deaths In The Night**

**Authors: Liam and Paula**

**Summary: When Ianto finds the body of his father in the street his world starts to fall apart. Follow the team on their mission to find the culprit and try and figure out the mysteries of the deaths in the night. A very dark tale of murder, loss and despair. What happens when Ianto starts to lose everything he'd ever worked for? Can Jack still be there for him in the darkness of sadness? Character deaths. Violence. Angst. Enjoy... **

**Disclaimer: Neither of us own Torchwood. If we did we wouldn't be writing FanFiction. Fan being the operative word.**

**Author's Note: This is a story written both by me (Paula545) and my brother, who doesn't actually have an account yet. The first idea for this story came from Liam and then the following piece was born. Please review, it would mean a lot! Tell us what you think happened and who you think the murder is! We would love to hear your theories! Enjoy this! Set directly after _Countrycide _in series one so there will be spoilers up till that episode. **

* * *

Ianto was walking down the street dragging his feet slightly. It had been a really busy and stressful day and his mind was still spinning. He'd nearly been cannibalised by villagers in the countryside and every time he shut his eyes he could still see the man's leering, hungry face looming at him.

He still desperately missed his girlfriend Lisa but he'd found that working helped. He kept himself busy at work and didn't often go home till the small hours of the morning.

Looking up from the pavement, he noticed someone lying on the other side of the road. There weren't many people going about but still nobody was stopping to help; that infuriated the young Welshman slightly as he couldn't understand why no-one was stopping or even calling an ambulance.

Ianto crossed he street to get a closer look and instantly recognised the face to be his father's. His blood ran cold.

Then man wore a bloodstained white t-shirt. A ripped cap lay on the ground by his side. His face was old and caring, even with cold, dead eyes and a frozen, hard white face. On his cheek were three thick scars. His short grey hair was stained red with blood that had poured from his scalp.

Ianto did a quick body check with a faint hope that his father might be alive. He'd seen so much death that day that he couldn't handle another. It couldn't be his Dad. It couldn't _possibly _be. He found his answer when he saw the neck. Fangs had easily pierced the skin and, vampire-like, allowed the horrific creature to take all the blood it wanted.

He slipped his mobile out of his pocket with trembling hands. His first instinct was to call Jack. It wasn't long before the phone was answered.

"Jack?" Ianto whispered frantically.

"Ianto…" came Owen Harper's half-exasperated moan. Ianto's heart sank slightly. In his panic he must have dialled the wrong contact.

"Oh-," Ianto began but was cut off.

"What d'you want Ianto? It's bloody two o'clock in the morning! This is one of the few mornings I don't get up and go to the Hub to bust fucking aliens and I'm gonna fucking make the best of it!"

It was then that Ianto heard a small giggle from Owen's end of the line. Gwen. She must be there too…of course; she and the Torchwood medic had a bit of a thing going on.

"Owen-."  
"Ianto, I know you were phoning for Jack-your-fuck-buddy but sorry mate, wrong number," Owen's said, his breathing slightly heavier than usual.

"No, Owen-."

"Don't worry, mate, I know you and Jack are-."

"No!"

"Ianto, go call Jack. It's two in the morning and-."

"Listen to me, Owen!" Ianto snapped but it was too late. Owen had hung up the phone. Ianto felt frustration building in his throat. He slumped down against the wall in despair. He didn't see why Owen didn't understand that most things _did _happen at two in the morning.Fumbling slightly now, he called his boss, Jack.

"Hello?" Jack's voice came onto the phone still sounding as alert and confident as ever.

"Jack…" Ianto whimpered, struggling to keep control of things.

"Ianto, what's wrong?" Jack demanded at once. He could instantly tell that something wasn't right.

"Jack it's…it's," Ianto felt his voice die in his throat and a strangled cry came out of his mouth.

"Where are you?" Jack asked urgently. Ianto obediently told the Captain the name of the street and then felt himself slowly falling apart.

"Please Jack…" he whimpered clutching at the receiver as though trying to stop Jack hanging up.

"I'll be right there, Ianto," Jack said firmly, "Promise."

* * *

**A/N: You know, you _really _want to press the review button...don't you? Nudge nudge. No pressure.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: We would like to thank the following: 02gouldic, Darkcir, Elanor16, Lambada, Sakurabound, Slashbaby, Space-Invader-x, debs84, heas, janto-gal, lilmizcrazy23, x-Athenea-x, jammydoughnut, Lady Clark-Weasley Of Books, and Solsbury Girl for reviewing, adding to favourites and adding to alerts! It means at lot to us! Thanks!**

* * *

Ianto felt tears roll down his face as he waited for Jack. The young Welshman with short dark, hair sat alone in the cold and dark street. He wore blue jeans, a white shirt and a green, bloody jacket after the events of the day. He cradled the stiff, still form of his father in his arms.

Jack seemed to be taking an eternity to get there. All Ianto wanted was someone to make things right again, someone to take away the pain.At that moment the black Torchwood SUV screeched to a halt at the kerb, just next to where Ianto was. The door swung open and Jack leapt out.

Captain Jack Harkness' long military coat flared out behind as he walked towards Ianto. His brilliant smile comforted the younger man; this smile was Jack's secret weapon. The Captain wore his usual blue shirt and braces. His casually ruffled dark hair added to his already dazzling appearance. His pale blue eyes shone like bright starts in the gloom of the street even when nothing good seemed to be happening in the world around him.

A smile of relief crossed Ianto's face as Jack came towards him. The Captain put a comforting arm around his trembling shoulders.

"Jack…it'll be okay won't it? It will, tell me it will," Ianto stuttered as he looked into his boss's eyes. Deep inside him he knew it wouldn't be okay. He knew his father was gone forever; that comforting man who had always loved him was gone. Gone forever, never to come back again.

"Ianto, you're gonna be fine, I'll make sure of that." Jack's comforting words made Ianto feel slightly calmer. For a moment he could pretend everything _would _be okay.

They got the body of Ianto's Dad into the SUV and Jack drove them back to the Hub while Ianto himself rocked back and forth gently looking pale and shocked.

When they got back to the Hub they found the place silent. Jack laid the body on the autopsy table and watched as Ianto thumped down into a chair beside it. He reached out slowly and took his Dad's hand and fat tears dribbled from his eyes. He hadn't quite understood what was happening yet. Jack left the area for a while to give the young Welshman some time with the body.

"What's happened?" came Toshiko Sato's voice from behind a computer screen. The Japanese computer-genius walked over and stood by Jack's side. Her hair was tied back and she wore a black coat and trousers. Her brown eyes looked worried and tired.

"Tosh…I didn't know you were still here," Jack said gently, avoiding the matter slightly.

"I went home for a bit…couldn't sleep," she admitted, "So I thought I'd come back."

Jack nodded, "Okay."

"Jack?" she probed, aware that the Captain's attention was elsewhere.

"Hmm? Oh," Jack said blinking back into the world, "It's… It's Ianto's father. Ianto found him in the street…"

"No…" Tosh breathed, lost for words, "Is he…?"

"Dead? Yes," Jack said bluntly. Tosh bowed her head sadly.

"How's Ianto?" she asked cautiously.

"Crumbling," Jack said with evident distress in his eyes. Tosh had noticed that Jack's attitude towards the young man had changed dramatically after the incident with Lisa. Tosh thought it was sweet but she didn't want to see Ianto have his heart broken by Jack; she knew the Captain and his ways, as did Ianto. They would be good for each other she supposed but in the long run it might be painful on both parts.

Tosh caught her breath. Ianto had already lost his girlfriend recently… It was too soon for him to lose his Dad too; it was always too soon to lose someone you loved.

"Can you phone Owen and Gwen?" Jack asked, suddenly purposeful, "Get them in here now."

Tosh nodded obediently and walked away to do as Jack had asked. She knew Owen wasn't going to be impressed about having to come into work at this time, let alone on a day when Jack had granted him the day off. She was sure, however, that the young doctor would be less disgruntled when he found out why he was being called into work. Tosh just hated being the bringer of bad news.

She pulled out her mobile phone and looked up Owen's name in her contact list. The phone rang for a bit before her call was rejected. She tried Gwen's mobile but nobody picked up. Frowning in frustration, Toshiko turned back to Jack.

"Hey, Jack?" she called, "Nobody's answering."

"What?" Jack said suspiciously, "Neither Gwen nor Owen?"

"No."

"Try again."

And she did. Tosh rang both mobiles repeatedly before, finally, Owen picked up sounding annoyed.

"What?" he said, irritably.

"Owen, we need you at the Hub-."

"Why? Tosh, Jack said I could have the day off and-."

"Owen please! It's Ianto… His Dad's been murdered."

"Bloody hell…" the young doctor gasped. This statement was followed by a loud thump and a succession of swearwords on Owen's part.

"Owen?"

"_Bollocks_! Why's that there…?" Owen snarled, apparently having tripped over something, "What, oh yeah… I'll be right there Tosh."

"And d'you know where Gwen is? She's not picking up her mobile," Tosh said curiously. There was an awkward pause. "Oh," Tosh said, catching on.

"Don't tell anyone, 'kay, Tosh?" Owen asked quietly. Tosh sighed.

"Just get here quickly. Both of you," she retorted before hanging up the phone and stuffing it in her pocket. Owen _would _be with Gwen…the new girl. Of course he would, she thought bitterly.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't long before Owen and Gwen arrived at the Hub. Owen, ever the actor, was pretending nothing had happened between him and Gwen. Gwen on the other hand kept glancing at Owen as though she was wondering if he was looking at her. Jack assumed something was going on between the pair but he decided he'd rather not know.

Ianto was sitting on the sofa looking lost. Jack had persuaded him to leave the body but now the young Welshman was torturing himself with the memory. His eyes were dripping with tears but he didn't do anything to stem them.

"Ianto I'm sorry," Owen said, sitting down beside Ianto on the sofa, "If I'd known-."

"Maybe if you'd listened," Ianto said softly without looking at his colleague. Owen sighed and looked apologetic.

"Owen, I want your full medical analysis on the body," Jack said quietly, gently pulling Owen to his feet. Owen nodded resignedly and walked slowly away to carry out his task.

"I'll make coffee," Gwen said to Jack, hoping that would be at least a small comfort to Ianto.

"No!" Ianto said sharply, "I'll…I'll do it." He got shakily to his feet and hurried away to the coffee machine; familiar territory and something comforting and permanent to hold on to. Jack watched the other man go with deep pain in his eyes. He didn't know what to do to help.

Gwen looked helplessly at her Captain and sighed, "What can we do?"

"I don't know," Jack admitted. He hated feeling as though there was nothing he could do to help the people he cared about.

"We'll just have to wait for Owen to tell us what's happened then?" Gwen suggested. Jack nodded. It was the only way forward.

"Jack!" came Tosh's sudden frantic cry. The Captain turned around to see Toshiko working at her computer with a look of horror on her face.

"What is it?" Jack asked urgently running over to her. Gwen followed quickly.

"There's more than just Ianto's Dad…" Tosh breathed, "There's been more deaths in the night. Only just being discovered now…"

"No…" Gwen gasped, looking shocked. Tosh nodded.

"All in the streets. Five in total, not including Ianto's Dad," she carried on. Jack bit his lip. This was going to be a bigger case than he'd first expected. Suddenly they heard the smashing of china nearby and then a loud sob. Jack looked around, panic-stricken.

"Ianto?" he called before running towards where Ianto had been making coffee. Ianto leaning forward heavily on the worktop, his weight on his hands. Sobs were wracking his body and a broken mug was lying on the floor, shattered in brilliant white shards.

Wordlessly, Jack knelt down beside his employee and held him in his arms. He didn't have any words of comfort and he knew that actions often spoke louder than words.

"No! No! No!" Ianto wailed thumping his fists on Jack's chest in hysterical fury. Reality had hit him and now he was lost in a blur of despair. The Captain felt tears prickling his eyes as Ianto clung at his clothes in uncontrolled misery.

Gwen stood awkwardly looking at the ground with her hand against her mouth. Ianto's sobs tore through her body and she wanted so badly to make things better but there was nothing she could do.

"Gwen…" Tosh called from her computer again, "Come here!"

"What?"

"Was Rhys out last night…?"

"Was he…? What?" Gwen asked pushing past Tosh to see the computer screen. When she did her mouth fell open in horror and she felt her world crashing down around her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: School work is getting the better of both of us right now. Sorry! Trying to keep updates as regular as possible.**

* * *

Gwen blinked and choked back a small sob. Tosh put her arm around her colleague.

"He'll be okay," she insisted, "I'll take you down there if you want?"

"But…" Gwen began, her eyes glazed with tear and she looked helplessly at Toshiko.

"He's still alive, Gwen. He's just been checked into the hospital," Tosh urged. She'd managed to link her computer to the systems in the hospital and had noticed them register a "Rhys Williams".

"Can we…? Jack…? Wh-what about Ianto?" the other woman stuttered.

"Jack?" Tosh called, "I'm taking Gwen to the hospital."

The Captain hurried over looking flustered, "Why? Gwen, are you okay?"

"It's…" Gwen began.

"It's Rhys. He's been taken to hospital," Tosh explained quickly, saving her friend the difficulty. Jack's eyes widened in shock and then he nodded. He took Gwen's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze before seeing the girls out of the Hub.

* * *

Rhys was silent in the hospital. He'd been hooked up to various beeping machines and was breathing through a ventilator. As soon as Gwen saw him her eyes filled with tears. She felt horrible; if only she'd been there last night. If only she'd been there to stop him going out. Instead she'd been sleeping with Owen and she couldn't see him die on a broken promise of love.

"Rhys…" she whispered softly, sitting down in the blue, plastic chair beside the bed. She reached out and placed a hand on his and felt her body tremble in despair. He wouldn't die would he? He couldn't die!

Toshiko hovered by the door looking awkward, "I'll go get some coffee," she said eventually. Gwen nodded quietly and then burst into frustrated tears. Tosh ran over to her and crouched on the floor beside her colleague, taking her in her arms.

"He'll be okay…" she whispered soothingly, "I promise."

"You can't promise that," Gwen said softly, not taking her eyes off her boyfriend. Tosh didn't answer. She couldn't argue with that – nobody could.

* * *

Owen wandered over to Jack in the Hub clutcihng a piece of paper.

"Jack?"

"Anything?" he asked, looking hopeful. He really wanted to get somewhere with this case; it had hurt too many of his team for him to let this go.

"Sorta. Traces of venom in his blood. He was poisoned, Jack," the young doctor said, wide-eyed. "We need to find the sick fucker that did this quick. It's an infectious poison and if it gets transferred into someone else's blood stream, maybe through cross-contamination of blood or something…that person would die too."

"Gwen!" Jack cried suddenly, bolting out of the Hub leaving Owen feeling confused.

* * *

"_And we've had another reported death last night. Names shall not be given until the families have been notified. This is the sixth reporting death from last night and there is no known explanation. All the victims suffered punctures to throat and seemed to have been drained of blood. And-."_

Owen changed the television channel a few hours later. He'd just finished scanning Gwen over for any poison transferred from Rhys. It would be just the sort of thing to hit them when they weren't expecting it.

"_One man has survived an attack and has similar puncture wounds on his throat to the dead. There was nobody willing to comment on his condition. His girlfriend was seen at the hospital earlier on and was reported to have sworn loudly at the press when they asked for a statement-._"

"And she had every bloody right to," Owen muttered darkly. Sighing, he turned off the television. There was nothing more he was going to get out of any new station now. Nobody knew anything and this creature was invoking terrible confusion into society.

He saw Gwen sitting at her station with tears gushing silently down her face. Every so often she would get to her feet and pace around the room for a moment before sitting down and fidgeting restlessly.

Ianto was compulsively cleaning things and tidying the Hub. He wanted to keep busy and try and keep going even though the pain was eating at him from inside. He felt like he was drowning in a sea of despair and there was nowhere to run.

Owen vowed that when he found the murderer he was going to kill them. He really was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Again, appologies for the time it took to update. Been busy but it's nearly the holidays so things are easier. Sort of. Hope this was worth the wait anyway.**

* * *

Owen sat on the end of his bed unable to sleep. He rubbed his eyes wearily and stumbled to his feet. It was late but he was too restless to sleep. He wandered through the kitchen, grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the tap.

Suddenly, he heard a tapping noise from outside. He froze. There it was again; the rhythmic _tap tap tap _on the windowpane. He was sure it wasn't just rain, it was more interrupted and tuneful than rainfall.

Curiously, Owen edged over to the window and hovered behind the curtains for a moment. Should he look out? It could be dangerous and it could risk his life, but then again, he did that every day in Torchwood. Where was the difference?

He spotted his mobile phone on the counter and picked it up. If there was some creature going around in the night Jack should know. Owen lived above ground level… If something was outside they either had an uncanny ability to stick to walls or they could fly. Either way, Owen was worried.

"Jack?" he said as the line picked up.

"Owen?" Jack asked with a suspicious yet worried note in his voice.

"There's something outside…" Owen whispered.

"What sort of thing?"

"Dunno, haven't seen it," he replied cautiously. Jack let out a low breath. Owen waited impatiently for his Captain's advice.

"I'll be right there," Jack said firmly.

"Be careful. It's out there somewhere," Owen said quietly. Then Jack hung up the phone.

Owen bit his lip as he put the phone down. The tapping was still going on and it was getting more and more incessant by the minute. He had to look out. He couldn't wait until Jack got there. At least if he knew what it was he could tell Jack. If it _was _just something silly like the rain, he could tell Jack to go back to the Hub – where he seemed to live.

Bracing himself he reached out and took hold of the soft fabric. He pulled it back with a jolt and felt his mouth drop open in horror.

Then the window was shattered with a single blow from the creature floating outside. Next thing he knew was the pain… He'd never known pain like it before and all he could see was red. Someone was screaming nearby. A man. Why was there a man screaming in his house? Then he realised that it was only him that was screaming. Something punctured his neck and he felt his knees give way beneath him. Then everything faded in to darkness…

* * *

"Owen!" Jack called as he waited outside Owen's door in the bitter evening air. He knocked several times and there was no reply. He was getting worried and more than a little paranoid. "Harper, open the bloody door!" he called through the letterbox. Nothing.

He pulled out his mobile and dialled Owen's number. Nobody picked up. He tried again. Nothing. There was nothing for it, he decided. Jack took a step back and kicked the door down. It flew out of the frame and landed on the floor with a muffled thud. He'd been half expecting Owen to come running through shouting about him destroying his front door. But he didn't.

"Owen?" Jack probed anxiously. Then his heart leapt into his throat and his mind spun violently. _No_… _No. _Not Owen! Not Owen, please not Owen. He ran over to the ajar kitchen door and dropped to his knees beside the young doctor.

"Can you hear me? Owen? Please Owen?" Jack begged urgently. He shook the other man's shoulder and his head lolled limply. He checked for a pulse while struggling to keep his cool. He let out a small breath of relief as he found a weak but existent beat against his fingers.

"Stay with me Owen…" he whispered before pulling out his phone again and dialling an ambulance. With the phone to his ear he tried to figure out what had happened to Owen. There was shattered glass all over the kitchen from the broken window.

Owen himself had clearly been attacked and his wounds looked similar to those of Ianto's father. What was it Owen had said about the attacker? Poison…? His heart sank as he garbled an explanation and an address to the man from the ambulance service. He couldn't lose Owen… He _need _Owen! Gwen was worrying over Rhys and was bound to react irrationally over anything that happened. Ianto was distraught. Owen and Tosh had been the only ones coping with the situation and now Owen was… He couldn't let himself think like that. Owen would pull through. He _had _to.

As soon as he'd hung up the call to the ambulance he dialled Toshiko. It took a few attempts before she answered her phone and then she let out a small whimper when Jack told her what had happened.

Jack was getting the increasing feeling that whoever was doing this was doing it to weaken the team before they struck properly. He tried to keep calm as he looked at the blood around Owen. He sat and held the younger man's hand hoping that he would wake up.

Then he noticed the message daubed in blood on the floor. The letters didn't make any sense to Jack and he sighed but made a mental note of them anyway:

_GHF_


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Guess what! Guess what! School term ends tomorrow! So you know what that means? I will be able to update more often now! That's a good thing, right? So, here's the next chapter. I wrote the first draft for some of this in Business Management while pretending to be revising for the test I sat today. Enjoy!**

* * *

The ambulance seemed to be taking an eternity to arrive. Jack stayed by they young doctor's side and kept checking his pulse. He was trying to think of something useful to do but was coming up with nothing. Owen _was_ still breathing and had a pulse so CPR wouldn't be necessary. He took off his jacket and wrapped it tightly around the younger man.

There was no blood coming from his body so there was nothing to stem. He would just have to wait for the ambulance to arrive. He didn't like feeling useless and that was exactly how he felt that moment.

He looked back at the mysterious initials daubed on the floor. He shuddered. What kind of sick minded person would do something like that? He didn't have a clue what they meant and he made it his target to find out.

He took Owen's hand and tried to get a response from him, "Owen…? Owen, mate, stay with me… Please," Jack whispered just as he heard sirens outside. He looked up with a relieved smile and waited until the two paramedics rushed into the room.

* * *

Tosh felt the panic sticking in her throat. She couldn't lose Owen. She _wouldn't _lose Owen! She loved him and she couldn't bear to lose him. She was hovering around her house in agitation. Jack had given her strict orders to stay indoors until morning.

She felt trapped now. She wanted so badly to go and help Owen but there wasn't much she could do. She opened up her laptop. Jack had told her about the initials in blood on Owen's floor. She loaded up the Internet and typed in the three letters "GHF"_. _

The search results displayed a diverse selection of links and she scanned over them for a moment. The search told her she had a choice of over six hundred thousand results. This might take a while; there seemed to be everything from insurance companies to chat sites. Toshiko made a quick note of all the organisations under the initials "GHF" and looked at them. She would show that to Jack later.

* * *

The paramedics had injected Owen with various medicines and had carried him in the stretcher to the ambulance. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion for Jack and nothing was getting done quick enough. He knew he didn't have time to go with his young employee to the hospital if he wanted to save his life. He would have to leave and find Toshiko.

"I have to go, urgent. Name's Jack Harkness if you need me. He's Owen Harper," and with that he was gone. The paramedics looked confused but the Captain had no choice other than to leave. The sun was rising now and he would have to get to work. This was going to tear the team apart he thought bitterly.

* * *

Tosh was still clicking on random hyperlinks on the Internet. She opened one up and it came up with a band's homepage. She frowned slightly as she looked over the page. The full name of the band was _Grief, Heartache, Freedom. _Tosh found a flash box and clicked on it. A some started playing and she listened intently while reading the lyrics posted on the box beneath.

_I want you to find me!_

_I'm lost in a circle!_

_Swirling in a haze!_

_Drink my blood to keep on living!_

_Drink my soul to keep on breathing! _

Tosh winced at the poor quality of the song and lack of musical talent from the artist. She noticed the Torchwood SUV pulling up in the street and she added the page to favourites to show Jack later.

* * *

Elsewhere that morning, a mother and father were grieving the loss of a teenage soon who'd been outside in the street past his curfew. A slightly drunk homeless man was mourning his only friend in the world – the man who was now lying dead on the street. A son was running across the road to reach the father he'd just seen murdered.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: If anyone's interested I have a new fic uploaded, it's told in Owen's point of view and is called _Causing Me Pain. _If you want to check it out, it's on my profile page or if it's easier if you want the link, tell me so and I'll send it to you. Thank you!**

* * *

Jack was restless when Tosh jumped into the SUV beside him. He kept seeing Owen lying bleeding on the floor and the sense of uselessness hit him again and again.

"How is he?" Tosh asked at once with concern evident in her eyes. Jack bit his lip.

"I don't know how long we've got," he admitted, "Owen just told me he found that the murderer was using poison to kill his victims…"

"Owen…" Tosh breathed softly.

"We'll work this out," Jack said firmly, "Did you find anything about the initials on the floor?"

"A few," Tosh said opening the lid of her laptop, "I found some rock band by the name of _Grief, Heartache, Freedom _in other words, _GHF. _I think we should have a listen to some of their songs… Maybe they have something to do with this?"

"Just play one now," Jack said as he swerved around a corner in the SUV. Tosh nodded and hit the play button on the song. They both listened quietly, wincing slightly at the poor quality of the music.

"Hey, stop it there!" Jack said urgently and Tosh did as she was told, looking at the Captain curiously.

"What?"

"Don't you see it?" he asked, wide eyed with realisation, "The lyrics… They're telling us exactly what happened to Owen!"

"_What?" _Tosh cried, startled.

"Yes, did you hear them? "_Poison my blood with killing venom"!_" Jack said, "That's exactly what they've done to Owen and the others! And the bit about drinking blood and all, hell, Tosh! I think we've found our killer!"

"But… But that's far too obvious!" she said shaking her head, "It they were killing all these people they'd want to hide themselves!"

"Maybe… Maybe they want to be found," Jack whispered as he pressed down the break and brought the SUV to a halt.

"What d'you mean?" Tosh asked quietly, struggling to understand.

"I mean maybe they're giving themselves away because they don't want this to be happening…" Jack said jumping out of the SUV. He looked thoughtful and all the possibilities were running through his mind.

"The leader is clever…" came a hoarse voice from behind them. Jack looked at Tosh inquisitively for a moment before noticing the figure in a black hooded cloak standing at the rear of the SUV. Tosh and Jack tensed and backed away slowly. Jack slipped his hand inside his coat to take his revolver out.

"Who are you?" the Captain demanded with as much authority as he could muster.

"Ivanan Barrelle," the figure said gravely, "I come from a land far from here…"

"Where?"

"Sandohan," he said briskly.

"So, you're not from Earth?" Tosh checked.

"Obviously not," the figure growled.

"Was it you who hurt our friend?" Jack asked. The figure cocked its head to the left in a gesture mild confusion.

"Hurt who?"

"Owen Harper," Jack clarified, "He was attacked in his house this morning."

"That wasn't me… My brother, on the other hand, did. He is careless Jack, which is why I am here. I'm here to clean up his mess. I am not alone in coming to this planet,"

"Your brother nearly killed Owen?" Jack whispered darkly.

"Is it still killing when you need to do it to stay alive?" the figure in the cloak asked.

"Yes," Jack replied immediately.

"Really? Jack Harkness, I'm sure you've killed people just so you can stay alive…"

Jack was silent. He didn't know how to respond to that statement. He looked at the figure for a moment before sighing.

"Jack, what do we do?" Tosh whispered to Jack as she stood beside him. Jack looked blank. He couldn't actually think of anything to do.

"Why did your brother leave those initials on the ground?" Jack asked to cover up his confusion.

"Oh, he just likes to play games. He found this band with a song that describes what he's doing… You found it? That's why I have to kill you too. We can't have people knowing our secrets," the figure said coolly. Jack shivered. He drew out the gun and loaded it with a sharp click.

"Who are you?"

"I said, Ivanan Barrelle-."

"No, really. Why are you here?"

"Banished from my home planet. We came here because there is so much life and it all tastes so nice and-."  
Bang!

"Jack!" Tosh cried in alarm as Jack pulled the trigger on the gun. He suddenly couldn't handle it that this person was talking so coolly about killing innocent people. He'd hurt Ianto, Gwen and nearly killed Owen. For all he knew, Owen could be dead now.

The figure cried out and fell backwards with a choking splutter. The hood fell back and showed them a pale, ghostly face with dazzling red eyes. There were blue veins visible on his skin and his open mouth contained pincer sharp teeth. Then Ivanan was on his feet again, clutching his stomach but making a valiant attempt to flee.

"Don't let him go!" Jack yelled to Tosh as he ran off after Ivanan. Whatever happened to Owen, he would stop it happening again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: This is the last chapter of this story! Thank you all for being here, reading and reviewing, you've been great! Thanks again everyone!**

* * *

Jack and Tosh sprinted after the figure as fast as they could. The need to find out what had caused Owen so much pain was the main thing driving them forward. Jack had fired several more shots towards the running figure ahead but Ivanan was already far ahead of them. His black cloak was billowing out in front of him and it made him look like a bat. Or a stereotypical vampire, Jack thought.

Ivanan skidded around a corner and it was a few moments before Jack and Tosh reached that point. What surprised them was the fact they'd just run into a dead end. Ivanan was sanding panting at the end of the alleyway against a wall. Another cloaked figure was standing beside him and they seemed to be in some sort of defence position with the less vulnerable nearer the front.

"Surrender now…" Jack said, his voice surprisingly steady for having been running.

"Surrender to what, exactly?" snarled a husky voice from the figure they hadn't met yet.

"Torchwood. We can find you somewhere else to go," Tosh tried to bargain with them. They both laughed emptily while looking from Jack to Tosh.

"You'd just kill us anyway!" Ivanan snapped.

"We're giving you a choice. Either you do this Tosh's way and we take you back to the Hub and we find some way to keep you alive. Or we do this _my _way and kill you on the spot for what you did to Owen and the others. You see, _nobody _hurts my friends and gets away with it," Jack growled fiercely.

"Why would we give up to someone like you?"

"Because it's better for you if you do," Jack said bluntly, "Now, make your choice."

"Carrion, just kill the bastard!" Ivanan demanded of his brother and Tosh flinched slightly. Jack sighed. This meant he had no choice now. He raised the revolver again…

* * *

Ianto hadn't slept at all that night. He sat awake in bed mourning the loss of his father. He'd wanted to be with Jack that night but Jack had had a phone call in the early hours of the morning from Owen. Owen was in trouble Jack had said before running off to help. He'd forbidden Ianto to come too, saying he should stay at home and get some rest.

He wandered around the Hub feeling more than a little lost. He didn't know where to go or what to do anymore. He felt like an empty shell. First Lisa and now his Dad… It just wasn't right. Things weren't meant to be this way, but they were. There was nothing he could change now.

Gwen was hovering around too. She looked just as anxious as he himself did. He tried to give her a comforting smile but the muscles necessary for a smile seemed to have given up on him now. What had he to smile about? What had any of them to smile about? Nothing. All they had was pain and emptiness now.

Gwen's mind kept slipping back to Rhys and she would feel her throat tightening and her mind spinning. What if he died? She wouldn't know what to do without him. The last night they could have had together, she had spent in Owen's bed. Maybe if she hadn't been with Owen Rhys would still be alive now. Probably. It was her fault he was in hospital and there was no going back now.

* * *

Nothing… He couldn't hear. He couldn't see. He couldn't even feel anything besides incredible pain. It was pain like he'd never felt before and it frightened him. Owen tired desperately to keep things together but he could feel his life trickling away like sand through his fingers. He knew he had to keep fighting but how could he when the odds were stacked up against him? There was no way he could survive… No way…

* * *

It took Jack a moment to come to his senses again after he'd shot the gun. There'd been a series of short, sharp explosions filling the alleyway with think clouds of dust from walls. There had been screaming. Tosh had gasped and backed away from him, frightened. Jack had kept shooting. If those creatures escaped so many more people could die and it would have been his fault for letting them get away.

Then there had been the silence. There were bullet marks on the wall at the end of the alley and there were bloodstains on the ground. Slowly, Jack crept forward curiously. The two bodies of the killers were lying on the ground in a gruesome mess. Jack winced slightly and tried to ignore the fact that he'd just killed two people in a flair of temper. Although, it was for the greater good.

"Santranians," Jack said walked back to Tosh.

"What?" she asked shakily, not understanding what he was saying.

"That's what they are. They're species. Santranians."

"Oh…" she said slowly. Jack nodded. "So what do we do now?" Tosh asked.

"Get rid of the bodies… Get back to the Hub… Go see Owen. If I'm correct in thinking… Santranians only drink blood for the person's soul… I think maybe if that Santranian dies while the victim is still alive-."

"Then they'll live? They'll get their soul back and survive?" Tosh said, wide eyed with hope.

"I think so… Yes," Jack said carefully, "The poison injected into all of them was designed to kill them so the Santarnian could keep their soul so to speak."

"Owen!" Tosh said happily, "He'll be alright?"

"Hell, I hope so," Jack said with a small smile.

* * *

"Bloody hell…" Owen muttered darkly as he opened his eyes. Every muscle was aching and he couldn't quite adjust to the lighting in the room so he shut his eyes again. He didn't understand what had just happened; he was sure he was going to die but instead he'd woken up to be feeling considerably healthy given the circumstances.

"Mr Harper? Are you awake?" came a surprised voice from beside him.

"Yeah…" Owen muttered slowly. He felt like his mouth was full of gravel and he wanted a drink. The nurse looked at the young man in the bed in some surprise. The doctor had said that Owen Harper only had hours to live! He'd said his condition was critical, unstable and life threatening. They'd tried all they could but there was nothing more they could do when the young man's body had given up on him anyway. Yet, here he was, alive and recovering rapidly. It was a shame the other man, Rhys Williams, hadn't been as lucky. He'd died of similar symptoms only half an hour ago…

Owen smiled slightly to himself. He was alive. He was going to be okay. Sometimes, even when sand slips through your fingers there's the small scattering of grains that stick.


End file.
